Mala in Cuba - preview

Mala unveals the first full-length tracks from his forthcoming Mala in Cuba album, a collaboration with Gilles Peterson and various Cuban musicians set to drop on the 10^th September. Whilst Coki's particular brand of dubstep is starting to become rather overplayed, Mala's constantly been spreading his wings and experimenting. Peterson fairly boldly claims that "This is the record that reevaluates and realigns the dubstep movement within soundsystem culture", and whilst that's a hell of a grandiose statement to live up to, the two tracks so far sound fun, fresh and begging for a big-system run-out, though frankly, they sound very little like dubstep.




More details as we get them.

Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Restructure 2 (Digital Mystikz remix)

Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Restructure 2 (Digital Mystikz remix) - Honest Jon's
Whilst DMZ have been pioneers and trend-setters since the inception of dubstep, I've always considered them more important as promoters and scene figures than producers. However, their take on the Moritz Von Oswald Trio is actually a damn fine remix, and manages to unite both the armour-plated sub-bass of UK dubstep, and the warm spaciousness of the Berlin sound in what will doubtless be a massive tune. The original Restructure 2 sees Oswald, Ripatti and Loderbauer bringing together gently plucked guitar and swathes of synth over a 4/4 rhythm to create something that's equal parts Brian Eno, Steve Reich and Basic Channel. At 12 minutes long, it risks descending into mastubatory self-indulgence, and frankly, if you're not a fan of Oswald's extended head trips, this won't really sway you either way. However, for proper dub heads, Wire-reading musos and those who think that at nine bucks, a record ought to give you something for your money, this is a pretty special piece of soft, spacious electronic dub.
The DMZ remix sees Mala going for it big style, injecting some surprisingly subtle subs and rattling percussion to transpose the airy spaciousness of the original into a dark, dread-fuelled monolith. Warping and scattering itself through various dancefloor contortions, Mala finally unleashes the rich melodies at a the crucial breakdown, creating a euphoric, textured headspace. Then the bass rolls back in again and crushes everything in it's path. Big tune.